Naruto Ho'no (instinct)
by Caramonv2
Summary: What drives that which has abandons its mind, its very soul to rage, what binds all of nature together, what guides the sages of the earth to such miracles, What has consumed the hero of a story that won't come to pass? That which exists inside him, that which dwells in grief and hatred . That which deigns to destroy through the body of the Kyuubi, Instinct.(fem Kurama, Oc, Naruto)


Hello fan fiction, this is an old story i started with a friend. It's not very well written for the beginning of a long story, but i wanted to release it as sort of a set up for the setting and general idea of the story. I may return and make this copy a one shot for any who like it, while replacing it with one that's a bit more streamlined. But from here on out the entire story will be much better, i promise.

Disclaimer; I do not own the Naruto brand, franchise or it's affiliates, if i did, it would have not been granted to some dude that kills Naruto with a stupid seal. He's a fucking SEAL MASTER! The only thing i do own, are the original ideas i have incorporated into this story world to create my own plot line. Anyways, on with the show and enjoy.

EPILOGUE

It was a calm evening in Konoha, all the villagers scuttling around doing their errands, chatting, or just enjoying the summer day. Small shadows pass from clouds overhead. But a single shadow splits off from the clouds and zips over the villagers, unseen. It travels to the edge of the village soon joined by many other shadows when they reach the wall. A lithe, pale man stops to analyze his troop and decides that the over-prepared jounin that joined him were prepared for the deadly mission he was leading them into, little to their knowledge. He nods in a smug acceptance thinking to himself, ' _they'll all be dead soon anyway.'_

The young sannin Orochimaru jumps off the wall and shunshins at the apex of his jump, his companions following suit, landing in a beautiful clearing no less than 200 miles away. He signals to them to fan out as he prepares his trap.

"Come to me, my little specimens," he whispers while he works. He begins laying strange tags hidden in a genjutsu (a form of chakra manipulation that changes someone's perception of an object, or even as much as their perception of reality.) so they look like small twigs and pebbles. Finally, he spreads out some scented and bloody meats, making it look like a fresh kill. After admiring his handiwork for a split second, his calculatory mind works, going through the possible scenarios. He chooses the safest position to stalk his prey and five hours pass before a large white and blue tail, one of nine, swishes above the tree line, much like a shark fin. It disappears from sight but not without being replaced by the sounds of tiny _yips_ and _barks_. The large tails coil above the trees and fall down much as a cat's would as it stretches. A small tremor follows.

' _It appears he's finally going down for a nap,'_ Orochimaru thinks with an ugly sneer. ' _Now it's all up to those two little morsels,' '_ his demented, brilliant mind cooes in delight.

Another 15 minutes pass in silence. A small _yip_ breaking the silence as two small ruddish figures fall into the clearing, laying and nipping at each other. Human laughter can be heard from the two kits. One presumably male, and the other distinctly female. The two kitsunes instantly perk up, the weak genjutsu hiding the scent of the meat until the foxes had approached so as not to draw their mother as well no longer hid the attractive scent. They cautiously approach, smelling the air and looking around for whoever owned the kill. (They are scavengers after all). Aware of none of the shinobi laying in wait, the little kits run up to the meat and eat their fill, lying down to rest after the full meal. Purring can be heard from both of them.

' _Good, my "fox-nip" is working,'_ Orochimaru grins. He raises his hands in the ram sign. "Kai," he whispers and the release of his chakra causes the genjutsus on the tags to disperse and the tags themselves to activate, trapping the two kits in a cage of chakra and sealing off all sound from within. Orochimaru smiled, stretching his lips until they seemed to split his snake like face.

He signals to his troop for them to fend off the Father should he learn of his kits disappearance too soon. Taking hold of the chakra cage he softly whispers to his prey, "Now now, don't cry...Yet," his sickly tender voice turning sadistic. "There will be plenty of that later." Orochimaru and the kits vanish from the clearing, appearing back in the village, but not in any good place. No, a dark cellar surrounds the frightened, delicate creatures. And the presence of that man is no joy ride either.

The more feminine kit _eeps_ in fear and her paws cross one another as a gust tossles her brothers fur with a woosh. A small girl has taken it's place, but the slitted pupils along with distinctly foxish ears and tail belie her true nature.

"So, this is your 'mortal' form, eh?" Orochimaru stalks around the cage with a greedy, hungry expression that dripped with his sarcastic tenderness. "Hmm, I'll have to explore it. _Fully."_ His eyes becoming almost bestial.

The small vixen whimpers and curls in on herself to hide her scantily covered adolescent form. " _Why?_ " the word formed in Orochimaru's mind, a question and a pleading for their freedom.

"Oh, my little morsel," his hand caress the cage. "To consume you, of course!" The manic glee transforming his features to a demonic abomination of a human being. "I shall make your very essence my own, draining you until your existence is nothing. That nothing shall make me immortal, make me perfect."

The other kitsune puts himself between the demented sannin and his terrified sister. " _Like hell you will, you snake!"_ His own paws crossing to reveal a very sturdy looking youth with a fair share of gruesome scars in more than a few fatal places. " _Just take me on, see how far you get!"_ The mental growl resounding into a dull echo for Orochimaru.

"Kids these days...No tact." The snake sannin snapped his fingers and instantly, a pull along the two kitsune's spines began tearing away at their chakra and both the kits began to slump on each other just to stay in their current form. "Still feel up to the big leagues, punk?," for once letting his aggravation show.

Both of the kits were silent, staring at the man who would be their destruction. They called out for their father, " _TOU-SAN!"_ But there was no reply, the dank room seemed to seal everything, even their minds, inside. Fear and heartbreak completely white-washing their expressions. They had lost to this monster, this...demon, They had lost their mother decades ago, Now their father was gone, but in this moment, most of all, they had lost hope.

CHAPTER 1 pt. 1

"Hope! Hope?" ' _Damn I can't believe I lost her.'_ A short, spiky yellow puffball exhaled in the cold alleyway. ' _Oh well, she knows this place even better than I do.'_ The young puff ball grinned like an idiot, out of habit, even though there was no one to be conned. Then again, anyone worth being conned wouldn't be caught alive in this part of the Akasen (red light district), or near an Akasenko (red light bastard child) like him for that matter. ' _Well_ , _she isn't going to find herself'_ the puffball laughed again. ' _Stupid joke,'_ he berated himself. He climbed up some trash bins up onto the roof tops.

An odd itch behind his eyes made him falter but he continued on after the small wave of pain, putting it off as slight exhaustion. Said puffball made his way along the grungy tiles looking for his friend and business partner.

In the alleyway where the boy was only a moment ago three more puffballs, one black the other two brown, appeared from the shadowy recesses. "Finally, now we can start on the party," all three chuckled. The young, black-haired Hope lead the small group to a new bolt hole that they knew wasn't frequented. Setting up different ribbons and other trinkets they found or "picked."

Three hours went by, the sun went down and Hope finally set out to bring her friend to his party.

For the record, it was actually harder to find "Whiskers" than herself when either of them didn't want to be found, but she would never admit that. Thankfully Whiskers was in his room back at the "House", having given up an hour before. It almost made Hope sad to see him sitting there, rocking back and forth, alone on his birthday. It had been a year since they'd met, she still didn't know much about him.

He used to be at an orphanage, now he wasn't. Other than his love for trouble and pranks, almost as much as ramen and orange, no one knew much of anything about the odd boy.

It wasn't every day she could sneak up on him. So Hope decided to have a little fun for all her trouble,"Does Whiskers want some company?" she said in a low voice, brushing against his shoulder teasingly, not unlike the adults they lived with, enjoying his shocked reaction.

'Whiskers' had done a double take and had to cover his wrist to stop the small dribble of blood from creeping into view. For how tough Hope was, she couldn't stand the sight of blood, too many bad memories. Hope also hated seeing all the small scars crisscrossing his arms and body,

They looked ancient, like they were almost faded away, but she had noticed a while ago, scars never stayed on him long _. It's sad he's the one who puts most of them there,_ She'd thought to herself. None of the other Akasenko had ever done anything like that, sometimes it scared her.

So, as the "big-sister" of their little group "Looks like someone could use a...Pick-me-up," she let his imagination go wild for a few moments before she grabbed his hand and dragged him out the window. Enjoying his even greater reaction when they headed in a direction they had never frequented before, albeit a little too much, _But then again,_ she thought, _I did go to all this trouble, I deserve a little fun._

As they ran, 'Whiskers' was having a hard time even comprehending what was happening. He knew that Hope had...poked around. He was the only Akasenko he knew of that hadn't yet. It was his birthday but it was completely out of character for her to "jump his - or anyones - bones" like this. "Where are we going?" He stuttered through his still drippy nose covering hand.

"It's a surprise." She hadn't dropped her "actor's" voice from earlier. She grinned, loving every moment of his confusion.

As they reached the entrance to the bolt hole 'Whiskers' was starting to get worried. The only way any of this could make sense was... "Uhm, Hope, why are we here again?" hoping (haa ha) to Kami that this wasn't real.

"I already told you." _Might as well wrap it up with a bang_ , she thought sadistically. Hope whispered into his ear, "A special surprise." She pulled him into the bolt hole a little too eagerly.

 _This is actually happening._ His clouded thoughts were cut off by the dull roars of "SURPRISE" coming from all around him. He noticed his surroundings for the first time. All of his friends were here and Hope was giving him that shit eating grin he'd learned from her. Only this one was genuine.

"You tricked me," Only a touched thankfulness in his tone.

"How else was I supposed to get The Great Uzumaki 'Whiskers' Naruto to his birthday party?" She asked. "And have some fun along the way."

Naruto hugged her so tightly that both were sure a few ribs were bruised. "Thank you," was all that could be heard from him.

Even though she was shorter than him, Hope still lifted naruto into a bear hug that would break an old fogey's spine. "No problem."

For the next hour or two, they lost track of time. Everyone took turns telling stories about the best cons they'd pulled with Naruto, and the best marks they'd ever hit. For the next hour after that everyone gave Naruto a little piece of something, a lock pick here, a smoke pellet there. Someone had even "found" a few good kunai.

Then everyone left, and it was only Hope and Naruto.

"I do have something special for you," she said, somewhat shyly.

"This party wasn't enough?" Naruto grinned, he was usually alone on his birthday, and no one here had known about it for the past year he'd lived in the brothel, he had always been alone, no one had ever cared before, ojiji tried, but he never could get the time from the council.

"No, this is more important." It almost looked like she was blushing, but Naruto couldn't be sure.

"What?" His curiosity taking over, her blush nagging at the back of his mind. Something was off.

"I've been working on this for a while now and I think it's finally perfect." She held out a scroll, carefully bound in dragon imprinted paper.

"Thank you." He could tell it was all hand done, and it looked so official and familiar but he couldn't place what it was. He opened the scroll and there in front of him were travel papers to leave the fire country and go...anywhere. The idea alone left him dumbfounded. He looked over at Hope.

"Now you can finally leave. Heavens knows why you'd want to stay here," she turned away from him. "All your things are ready for you, I had Kaa-san pack them while we were here," the slightest hint of pain leaking into her voice.

"But Hope, I…" He was interrupted by her finger on his lips.

"If you screw this up I will pound you into the floor," her eyes showing none of the anger in her voice.

Naruto smiled sadly. "But i don't want to leave," he stated confidently.

This threw her off. "What? But you never stopped talking about wanting to get out of here and see everything!" She was just as shocked as he'd been when he'd opened the scroll.

"Baka-chan!" He laughed. "I wouldn't want to leave you here all alone!"

She almost stopped breathing. "Don't say that, you idiot."

"It's true, I don't!" He was cut off by a pain behind his eye. "don't want to leave you."

"stupid" Hope blushes " don't say things like that to a girl" she punches his shoulder playfully.

"What the…?" It spread to the back of his head and shot down to his stomach. He grunted from the slight burning sensation.

"You ok?" Hope reached over to him.

"Yeah, just….exhaust…" Before he could go on his hands spasmed and his muscles all got charlie-horses. "OOWW! What the…"

"Naruto...What's wrong?" Hope let go out of shock.

Heat began to flood his system, like a fire, only worse. This was like tiny little saws grinding at his cells and ripping them in two. "AAAAAAAAH!" He screamed.

Hope was freaking out.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Globules of energy secreted through his exposed skin.

"NARUTO?!" Hope was becoming fearful, people got stomach sick all the time but none of them glowed orange like this.

A haze of crackling orange energy had begun to coat naruto. It extended to his eyes and they snapped open, becoming red and slitted. He looked up at Hope and saw the horror on her face. He could almost taste the fear induced hormones rolling off her as she backed into the corner. It tasted good.

 _Wait, what? Why does it…?_ His mind began to fog and the room took on an orange tint _smell...s_ _ **o**_ _..._ _ **go**_ **ood** _ **!**_ That last bit coming out as a growl, low but buubly, childish, more so than intimidating.

Hope's eyes went wide as Naruto seemed to snap in half, going on all fours, looking feral...and hungry.

"Naruto?" Her trembling voice matching her body, quaking in fear. She just wanted his birthday to be a good one, but now…This wasn't her Naruto, this was a demon. "Naruto? Whiskers? Why…*hic*... Why are you..?" Her voice betrayed her, leaving along with control of her limbs.

Naruto clawed his way to Hope, sniffing the air and watching her closely. His movements predatorial but his eyes still clinging to that last bit of his old sanity. " **Hope?"** His voice an impossible mixture of a roaring fire and gravel being stepped on, " **Why do you look afraid?"** that last bit of himself not noticing anything having changed.

"Naruto?" Hope looked up in surprise, knowing that tone anywhere. Tears started pooling "Naruto, why are you scaring me?! Why are you glowing?!" For however mature Hope was, she was still only a 12 year old girl, a strong, stubborn one, but a 12 year old none the less.

Naruto looked at her in confusion, then he looked down and saw the orange glow. His mind began to shut down in earnest, the primal senses flooding Naruto's own and alien thoughts warping his mind. He saw Hope's large eyes and mouth open in a scream, then he heard a gurgle and everything went black.

As a young childs screams of pain and fear died with her, an ancient howl sounded across the previously sleeping village. All the jonin old enough to remember woke instantly. A killing intent they hadn't felt in 9 years washed over their very souls and ripped their will to shreds.

The ungodly roar quieted and a single explosion in the north wall was all that followed, though no one slept afterward.

Chapter 1 pt. 2

Naruto had a dull ache in his head. _Huh, where...mmmh….home... why, is my bed so soft…?_ Naruto felt a furry carpet beneath him, softer than anything he had ever slept on before. _Except that one time Hope forced me to..._ It was uncomfortable remembering his "big sister" when she kissed him. "Where the hell am I?" He said aloud, sitting up and looking around.

A small alcove spread out around him leading to a fucking Huge Ass CAVE! This place even put Oji-san's (the sondaime hokage(like the president of a hidden village), sarutobi) house to shame! Torches made out of obsidian holding...animal fat? At least that's what it smelled like. ' _Wait...how do i know what animal fat smells like?! Ok this is getting old really quick!'_ "Hello!?" his voice echoed around the cave.

" _ **No need to shout, kit. "**_ A disembodied condescending voice rang out. Holding back thinly veiled hatred.

Naruto was immediately alert, too much energy (not exactly chakra) flooded the chamber for him to breath comfortably. It was a lot like the time he had "marked" that old, white haired, giant scroll toating, pervert in Mother's room. Only this time it felt...familiar. No, that wasn't it. It felt almost...'Similar' to his own presence, like the area had been flooded with "Eu de Naruto". He wasn't a shinobi or anything. Oji-san had said he wouldn't be allowed into the academy until after he was ten. That didn't stop Naruto from learning a few tricks here and there.(like trying to smell your own scent)

"Who's there?!" Naruto didn't like being the prey, years of the village abusing him was bound to do that. "Come on! You're not afraid of a nine year old are you?!" He was hoping to taunt the person out into the open. Angry people made mistakes.

" _ **I can't,"**_ the cryptic voice seemed to rattle his skull.

"Where am I?" Looking out of the alcove into the greater room he noticed a multitude of gouges across the solid, polished marble.

" _ **You're the one intruding!"**_ Just as confusing. There wasn't anyone here.

"Stop it with the riddles!" Naruto was becoming afraid of the voice.

" _ **UGH, clueless as ever."**_ The voice seemed to bleed pride and arrogance. " _ **But then, you're human, so I can't really blame you. In fact..."**_

Then silence. Naruto was about to speak but his vision went black and he had the odd sensation of falling. Suddenly, his equilibrium switched and he was rising. "What the hell…?" The stench hit him then. He doubled over gagging, his eyes stung but they began to pick up the dim light around him.

He was in some sort of sewer, though it looked almost like a throne room with how grand it was. Totally freaked the fuck out. Naruto stood up, his stomach pains gone, and walked to the giant gate in front of him. Mainly because it was the only place to go. Behind him was nothingness. A never ending hole.

" _ **Finally! Some silence."**_ Naruto looked around, then two amber orbs caught his gaze and what he saw next truly scared the shit out of him.

Not Fifteen feet past the giant bars was a fox head as big as Oji-san's office. And if the nine shadows waving behind it were any indication, there was more than just a head behind those bars.

"W-Who are you?" His form quivering at the sight.

" _ **That old fool never did tell you. Huff."**_ An eerie pale glow emanated from nine flames sitting one atop each of the tales. The full body of the "fox" came into view. " _ **I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune,"**_ all the arrogance leaving it's voice, only irritation and rage remained. " _ **and i was sealed inside of you for being controlled by a mad man."**_

Naruto's eye's would have been wide open had he not been cringing from the fox demon's volume. After letting the echo die down, naruto looked up at the creature before him. "Where am I and why am I here?" The Kyuubi's words settled on the top of Naruto's thoughts, not really making sense so much as leaving an impression of awe.

" _ **We're in the seal, kit."**_ The Kyuubi's index claw extends to point at his stomach. " _ **Look there."**_

A small flush of heat shoots through Naruto's stomach, he lifts his shirt to see unintelligible squiggles forming around his navel. After the whole thing was visible, it glowed with the same eerie light as the sewer. "What is this thing? I've never seen it before! What did you do to me!?" Naruto looked up at the demon fox with fear and anger in his eyes.

" _ **Ugh, human children... Never have been very intelligent.**_ "The fox looked bored as it rolled its eyes. " _ **It is the seal that keeps me inside you. Placed there at your birth, It is the reason you are hated."**_

Naruto perked up at this, all the information that had been sitting in his thoughts finally sinking in. "Ojiji-san…."

The Fox interrupted, " _ **That fool has never told you a single truth in your entire life!"**_ The animosity alone was enough to make Naruto go pale. " _ **Your so called Hokage, has done nothing but lie to you. He wishes to manipulate you into his own personal weapon. He wasn't called The**_ _ **Shinobi no Kami**_ _ **for nothing."**_

Naruto was dumbfounded. _Oji-san had been using him? But Oji-san was so kind…_ Then it all clicked for Naruto.

The kindness he had been shown by the hokage, his special talks, and in contrast how the hokage had never actually done anything to help. Even though it was well in his power.

Ojiji was just like everyone else….

"Why are you telling me this?" Even more scared now, his life was falling apart, or at least the good parts. Refusing to believe it for his own sanity.

" _ **Because, i can make it all go away"**_ The Fox looked at his jailor, more beaten and hated than even itself, now, weakening by the second. ' _ **The little prison is a foolish leech. '**_

"What...what do you mean?" His knees slowly calming and his heart rate becoming normal.

" _ **You want to be acknowledged, I want to be free. Fortunately for you, there is a path that gets us both what we desire."**_ The demon smiled but that seemed to scare the young child. Though the giant vulpin found no reason to care. Closing it's jaw, the fox looked into the child's eyes, using what little parental instinct it had left to seem earnest.

Naruto's distrust flared. _Those are the same eyes as Ojisan._ "Don't lie to me!" going quiet "You're just like the old man." all the love he felt for the grandfather in his life slowly evaporating.

" _ **DO NOT DISRESPECT MY HONOUR, BOY!"**_ The Kyuubi rage slowly quieted " _ **I am nothing like that MONSTER."**_

Doing it's best to calm itself from tearing apart it's jinchuuriki, the Fox took a deep growling breath. " _ **If you want proof of my word then touch the cage."**_

"Why?" Naruto tried to put some of his pride into the question but it came out as a squeak.

" _ **I can show you."**_ The Kyuubi stretched out a single claw to the bar. " _ **With as much power as i have, a little trip down memory lane is no challenge."**_

Naruto was shocked to say the least. _I want to know._ Naruto instantly touched the bar in front of him. And in that instant his body was seared with pain. It was like his cardiovascular system was being put through a burning meat grinder while his nerves were being split into infinitesimal amounts. His screams rang out against the hollow pipes.

Finally, Naruto pulled himself out of the fetal position. He found himself in a white expanse.

"Where…"for the third time today Naruto was lost.

" _ **On memory lane."**_ The Kyuubi chuckled at it's container's frustration and misfortune.

The voice resounded in his head and made Naruto jump. _Are we…?_

 _ **Yes, we are speaking through your mind.**_

Naruto felt a little awed by this. _So you and I can do this whenever?_ his body easily forgotten.

 _ **Yes,**_ again exasperated at the foolishness of humans _**it is because we have….**_

Naruto was distracted as images came running toward him like pictures on walls.

The Kyuubi readily forgotten as Naruto sniffed the air and detected something new. It almost smelled familiar, like milk.

But this scent had a tinge to it like metal and *sniff* family? Naruto went off in search of the smell he wound his way through the walls of pictures until he found himself overlooking a beautiful forest.

It was there that he found the source of the smell. It was Hope, or at least what was left. All memory of the Kyuubi's offer forgotten.

Her expression looked pristine/calm except for the lacerations along her legs and the blood running down from her waist. He noticed under all the blood that she was naked. But her skin was too corroded and scorched black to actually see anything.

The young jinchuuriki doubled over and lost his stomach. "What…" was all that he could whimper before he gagged again, bile burning the back of his throat. Then he lost consciousness.

His eyes fluttered open to the expanse of white, only now sporting a red pair of eyes looking back at his blue.

" **Finally done something bad, ehh?"** The eyes seemed to smile. Then the rest of the body came into view. Revealing it to be a perfect, black and white copy of himself.

"Who are you?" Naruto sat up and pushed himself away from the copy.

" **I'm you, Or part of you. Or not you. But you can just call me Yami,"** the clone smirked.

"What happened to Hope?!" The image burned in his mind, filled him with despair and rage.

" **Oh, that was me. Or would that be you?"** The ghostly image retorted with a smirk and a manic glee in his eyes.

Naruto blindly swung at Yami.

Two seconds later Naruto was on his ass, sporting a few bruises.

"Damn you!" Naruto's eyes begin to glow red. An orange mist bleeds out from his skin, shrouding him. His spine audibly cracks as nine tendrils begin to drag on the floor, much too thin and sickly to be called tails. They whip up with a mind of their own, spearing towards Yami.

He jumps out of the way but Naruto claws at the ground, throwing himself at the shadowy visage. The tendrils wrap around Yami's torso. As they both land in a mass of glowing limbs and black, burning flesh, Naruto grips Yami's throat, the flesh crackling like his chest from the corrosive chakra. (Youki, an demon's/oni's varient of chakra is deadly/corrosive/combustive/poisonous to all non demon/oni tissues).

" **Heh,"** Yami smirked. " **Look who thinks they're a herURK!"** Naruto's hand tightens, cutting him off.

"Tell me one reason I shouldn't kill you!" Naruto snarls, his canines elongated and his teeth sharp, they draw blood from his gums and cheeks making a light pink froth dribble down his chin.

" **If you kill me, the memories will come back."** Yami's eyes flash with a cold light.

"So be it," Naruto growls. A sickening gurgle comes from Yami as Naruto's other hand pulls out from his sternum.

Yami begins to disintegrate into ash. He flows past Naruto, turning into white dust, then nothing. Just as the last speck touches Naruto's cheek, a dam breaks in his head, A flood of images, smells, and tastes crashes down on him.

Falling out of the white expanse into the odd sewer, then he sank through the murky water and back into reality

Naruto again sees Hope's mangled bloody corpse, and with it ghosts of everything he had done to her last night.

Cutting her with oddly elongated finger nails, twisting his fingers in the wounds to find the best sounds, lapping at the blood pouring out of her, like he was…. _curious_. It made him sick. With nothing in his stomach Naruto dry heaved for more than an hour until he was a sad, curled up ball of self loathing and tears.

"Why...Why...Why...Why?" A small cry for help echoing in his mind.

" _ **Because you are of age, kit. All Kitsune aquire the taste of blood."**_ The familiar unwanted voice explained. " _ **Having been sealed in you at birth, My fox attributes have changed your genetic code. You've developed a foxes instincts. And with that, the customs"**_ a little too much mirth in the tone to not anger him, naruto decided instantly, he hated this fox, more than the villagers.

"Why Hope?" Anger once again changing him. The words not even registering for Naruto

A pause, as though the Fox was trying to think of the best way to say it. " _ **She was there,"**_ The nine-tails stated bluntly. Naruto thought he could almost trick himself into believing he'd heard sympathy in the demonic voice.

"And why should that matter?" Naruto's stubbornness getting the better of him.

" _ **Because Foxes are scavengers, we take what we can find,"**_ that ghost of sympathy sarcastically tickling Naruto's conscious again.

Naruto's conscious thought just shut down. Twitching in depression, Whiskers stumbles up to wander and lose himself in the labyrinthine tunnels.

It felt like days. Walking, tripping, fainting.

Finally, he ran into a circular dead end chamber.

After falling asleep for a long time. The hours melded together. Naruto woke up and looked around, the dazed look leaving his eyes.

"Where am I…?" Naruto sat up, rubbing his head.

" _ **You just had to come here,"**_ The Kyuubi growled. A saddened expression permeating the words.

"Why…?" Naruto got on edge; if even the Kyuubi is worried about this place, something had to be wrong.

Unbeknownst to Naruto his negative emotions were leaking into the seal, influencing the Kyuubi and her Hateful resolve.

" _ **This was the nursery,"**_ a very dejected tone.

Naruto went wide eyed. "You were a father?!"

The Fox was silent.

Naruto punched the wall in frustration as he slid down the rough surface of the wall, a few tears fell. Even a demon like the Fox had a family, but Naruto, he would always be alone.

Without his hate of the Fox, Naruto had no choice but to remember Hope. Feeling his heart break, he dry heaved again, when he couldn't retch anymore Naruto found a rough section of the wall and started punching it.

The Foxes energies healing him faster than he was injured made the pain seem hollow. Nothing could keep the memories at bay.

A higher voice sounded in his mind. _**I can't stand this anymore**_ fed up with the sorrow flooding the seal.

Latching onto the stimuli, Naruto's conscious mind was able to suppress Hope for the moment. "Kyuubi?" Naruto was confused, it almost sounded like…"Are you a-?"

 _ **Shut up!**_ shrieked in his mind.

"Oh my gamikai, you're a girl," Naruto was dumbfounded, he almost had to cover his mouth to keep from snickering. He remembered how funny it was when all his female friends in the akasen, their voices had been cracking and making the funniest sounds, Until he remembered Hope. Then the sorrow came flooding back.

Kyuubi was more enraged by the gaki's emotions toying with her than his insinuations. _***growl***_ Naruto blacked out and felt that weird reversing again.

He stood up and saw a now primal sneer adorning the fox demons muzzle, it clawed at it's confines. Yellow lighting shooting off in sparks.

" _ **You are so beneath me that i could crush your mind in an instant. What makes you think I won't, gaki?"**_ The harsh voice lost most of it's soprano to the rage behind it. Naruto could still pick it out, barely.

"So I-" Naruto was cut off by the sound of the claws raking against the prison.

" _ **That damn yondaime of yours took away my body, sealing my chakra into you, this is worse than a prison, this is a torture cell. The greatest pain, i can still see his PITY! That fool of a man, staring up at me with his distant eyes. Still, even after he's sitting in the shinigami's belly i'm haunted by those eyes!"**_ Naruto tried to back away from the venom flooding the air, but from his sitting position on the slippery ground all he could do was flail his legs.

"O..k..k...k" Naruto clutched his throat clawing for breath. Eventually he passed out and woke up in the nursery again.

When he regained consciousness, ' _what is happening to me…..'_ he cautiously looked around, finally he stood up, stretching he felt an odd sensation in his lower back.

He reached down and felt a long, _new_ appendage grown from his back. A short, golden tail, maxing out a two feet in length. His eyes bugged out of his head.

"What the hell? " He asked himself in a whisper, but his tenant decided to answer.

" _ **You never even payed attention did you?!"**_ The deep rumbling laughter threw Naruto over the edge of his emotional turmoil. " _ **The villagers were right. You're a demon. Though not the one they think. My chakra in your system, even though the seal dilutes it. has changed you. You're becoming one of my kind."**_

Naruto, for the sake of his own sanity, shut down, there was no way for him to adjust to it. Anger, sorrow, depression, and self loathing made Naruto to strike out and flail around on the ground, disturbing the rugs. Colors burst into his view as he passed out from the extended fatigue and mental overload.

Naruto had been going through a lot of this passing out recently. He hadn't had to deal with anything like this since the annual "foxhunt" on his 8th birthday.

He had to keep his mind blank or Those memories would come back, and he couldn't handle that. When the world came into focus again He looked around for something to distract himself with. But they had already started to seep in again.

He remembered the colors before he'd blacked out, and was up on his knees looking at the masterful but still crude drawings under the rugs. His new tail forgotten.

Butterflies, flowers, animals, even a few people. Off to the side he found several small handmade toys, carefully crafted and inscribed with delicate markings.

"They're beautiful," he breathed.

" _ **They're relics. LEAVE NOW!"**_ Naruto knew when it sounded like someone was trying to cover their emotions with a seemingly stronger one.

"They're yours." Silence. "Aren't they?"

More silence, Naruto continued to lift rugs away. Admiring the simple calming beauty of the mural. Depicting hunts, flowers, strange and beautiful jutsu's that made no sense to him Then a malice rose from the seal as he lifted a white/gold fur.

" _ **NO!"**_ The fear, turned hatred in the voice was almost enough to make naruto stop, but he wanted to get back at the fox.

Flipping over the rug revealed the most detailed and brilliant of all the portraits. Two small fox kits were bouncing around a flowered meadow with a large white cloud behind them. A giant red fox was in the tree line to the right, a gentle smile on it's face. Naruto stood up.

"Why would you…?" the question apparent to them both.

" _ **I lost all of them."**_ For the first time the anger was gone from the voice, only a small heartbroken soprano pierced through his mind, then he heard something he thought was impossible. Sobs echoed through his mind. " _ **My beautiful kits…"**_ Naruto wasn't the only broken soul in the room.

The last bit almost escaped Naruto's notice. Almost. "You were their Kaa-san." The enlightenmant in his voice was drowned by the empathy swelling from his chest. He felt something break inside. It hurt more than the beatings he got in Konoha, so much that he winced.

" _ **Yes."**_ The sad fox hiccuped out." _ **And he,"**_ another sob, " _ **was their Tou-san."**_

"He…?" Naruto looked again, the white cloud around the kits instantly jumped out to him, It wasn't a cloud, but a marvelous White Fox Demon with a blue tail, which split into two tips, creating the illusion of a puffy cloud in the sky. His size certainly helped to hide it, but now that he knew what to look for, it was plain and clear.

"AH, Him." Naruto was saddened along with the Kyuubi. "Kyu-chan?"

In her cage, the Kyuubi raised her head. 'Kyu-chan?' her eyes widened at the endearing honorific.

Naruto caught his mistake and blushed "Ahh….that is... I mean...uh.."

" _ **You called me Kyu-chan."**_ A small hint of confusion seeps through.

"I...I meant," Naruto stutters.

" _ **My name is Kurami,"**_ the fox's voice rings out softly " _ **Kyuubi no kitsune is my title"**_. The pride was almost tangible. An odd semblance of peace permeates the seal.

"Dark Beauty," Naruto whispers. The fox blushes, slightly. The peace breaks.

" _ **I didn't tell you so you could be a perv about it!"**_ The rage seeps through easily, like a thin gauze breaking. No one but her mate was allowed such an honor.

"HEY, HEY, I'M NO PERV!" Naruto pouts. "Just because I think it's a pretty name doesn't mean I'm being gross!"

' _My name is pretty?'_ Kurami blushes again. ' _A mere mortal making me blush,_ _**what the hell is wrong with me?!'**_ " _ **You! Get in here!"**_ Frustration leaking more than anger.

Again, the odd tumbling sensation.

Naruto could feel Kurami's seething hatred scorch his mind as the fox thrashed about within her cage. Her reaction was sudden and unpredictable; completely throwing him off guard.

The Fox clawed at his body pulling him up to eye level, glaring into the small child with broken eyes, full of bitterness and lost hope.

"…?" The drastic change in character throwing him off, perhaps. Because those eyes, were so much like his own. Finally reaching his sanity's breaking point Naruto screams "ENOUGH!"

To Naruto's small shock, and even larger pain, Kurami was silent, and dropped him. Forgetting about the odd obedience for the moment he squatted down and with his hands covering his ears he thought really really hard, finding the peaceful place in his mind. Kurami fumed in her rage. The fetid sewer was replaced by a beautiful glen with a stream and pagoda to the side. As the realm changed Kurami shrank and stretched and twisted. When Naruto opened his eyes she was in a human form wearing a red flame- pattern kimono and a leather choker with a short length of chain. A miniature of the paper seal burned onto the collar. The hollow imprint of nine tails was evident in the air around her. Shimmering like a heat mirage.

Kurami was so enraged at his behaviour, more so her obedience towards it, she hadn't realized any of these changes had occurred. " **You dare insult me in such a way? I am your, and every humans superior! An immortal! A weakling such as yourself has no right to speak to me in such a way! Your cheap flattery is a joke; I am not so easily fooled. Nor am I nearly as vulnerable as you seem to make me out to be!"**

Naruto's frustration quickly turned to awe at the image of Kurami's new form. Though less intimidating than before, she still gave off a feeling of danger. If it weren't for the cute blush on her cheeks, he'd of pissed his pants by now.

"You're beautiful. How…?" Naruto breathed.

" **Dammit…"** Kurami winced. " **I told you already, your attempts at flattery are ridiculous…"**

His brow twitched, as well as his tail. "ARE YOU SO STUCK UP YOU CAN'T EVEN ACCEPT A COMPLIMENT!? I'M FED UP WITH YOUR SHIT! ACT LIKE A PERSON!" Naruto could handle anger and hatred, even torture, but he absolutely despised sanctimonious attitudes. The golden fur bristling down his forgotten appendage. The flustered child was beginning to hate the creature before him less and become more realistic. Just wanting some form of normalcy.

" **Stop saying such foolish things! You are in no position to give me orders!"** Kurami rubbed her thighs together trying to keep her body straight and regal.

Naruto became deathly calm. His emotions simply disappeared. He stared her down, which was quite a feat for a 4' 5" 9 year-old to do to a 5'10" Ageless demoness. "If that's right then kill me…." He stood there waiting.

She tried to stare directly into his eyes in an attempt to show him her authority but she could not hold her gaze. Kurami's body began to tremble. With every passing moment, her strength was diminishing. She dared not admit that she was becoming weaker but her body language and the worried look that crossed her face for fragment of a second gave it away.

" You can't, can you? If I die, you die. The seal won't break, it will disappear?" The calm collected voice the Naruto spoke with made it clear. He wasn't asking a question, he knew it was true. An aura of blue chakra begins to seep out of Naruto's skin, like a shroud of mist. His tail swaying and coiling in a challenge.

Kurami stepped back; she hadn't expected him to be aware of this and began to realize that her front wasn't going to hold up against Naruto. " _ **How, how do you know all this…"**_ More afraid than curious, this boy knew things beyond what he should. Beyond what any human should. " _ **The seal was meant to be a…..punishment, not an eternal destruction. I..IT latches my soul onto yours, keeping my mind tethered here with all my reiki(aura, the spiritual essence of chakra). It slowly bleeds all my reiki into you over time. M..My youki (again the resulting energy from a demon) is too poisonous in anything more than miniscule doses. I..It...It's a natural defense against any typical human. Th..The yondaime wanted you to be seen as a hero but he was no fool, he wanted to protect you, this was the best he could do."**_ Kurami hadn't been this afraid of any one being since her "father," the Rikudou sennin, had first shown her his true strength. And to make it worse, it was caused by a small boy.

"You're pale," a note of concern evident in his eyes. He reaches up to feel her forehead but due to height he had to settle for feeling her cheek.

She almost flinched away from his hand but instead stayed still.

"You're overheating," Naruto said to her. "Why don't you rest?"

Kurami was bewildered at this sudden act of kindness that had come so quickly after the boy's previous fit of rage. She began to feel safer again, not fearing Naruto's newly found power. The thought that she shouldn't even need to feel safe around the boy not even crossing her mind.

Naruto put a little force against her shoulders and Kurami sat down on a chair that materialized in the odd forest. Her surroundings finally getting through her emotional state. The demon looked down, refusing to make eye contact with the human as she tried to find the right words to make him understand.

Kurami then looked directly at Naruto, a mixture of powerful rage and sadness in her eyes. " _ **My kits…"**_ She whispered. " _ **They were taken from me. Trapped and helpless… A wicked man, one with eyes just like a snake's took them away in a vain search for immortality!"**_ venomous malice seemed to drip off her lips. " _ **And my kits weren't the only ones killed at his hands. Their Tou-San"**_ her voice broke into sobs " _ **fought with all of his strength against the man's great snake, Manda, but was killed. I was left with nothing! Trapped in THAT WOMEN i could do nothing, i could only feel their deaths."**_ Great sobs wracking her petite form, her head fell to rest on his young shoulder.

"Why did you attack Konoha? Orochimaru had left us years ago." Naruto was a little confused at this. Noticing his faux pas, he apologized.

"I'm sorry for the loss of your….mate. And your kits." He hoped that word made sense. "I've never had a family, but it can't hurt any less than what i've been through."

Now in normal circumstances, Kurami would scoff at such an apology, words of empathy from a _human_ were beneath the queen of the tailed beasts, but oddly, she found solace in the kind words. That odd evidence of truth ringing in the boy's voice again. It may have been Naruto's turbulent emotions, her long standing depression turned rage finally getting to her, or maybe it was the fact that all 30 of the suppressor seals in the Shiki Fuujin seal had broken , causing her chakra to flood in Naruto,

The Shiki Fuujin was unlike any of her other Jinchuuriki's seals. This seal was an array that had been tailor made for Naruto to hold the Fox. In the very center was the main seal that kept the Kyuubi no Kitsune lock into Naruto, but the other 71 seals Actually worked in tandem, SEAMLESSLY! It was a true testament to the Yondaime Hokage and his skill in Fuuinjutsu. Of the other 71, the 30 suppressor seals were the only ones visible to a novices eye, but the 41 "invisible seals" were the true pieces of master craftsmanship!

Most of them Kurami couldn't even guess at their purpose, but 10 had been made very evident from the moment she was sealed.

The first two were to act as a form of "decoder" for her chakra. They were insanely simple seals, but the outcome was so powerful it was a mystery how no one else had ever even thought of their application. These two seals transformed Kurami's chakra into any form required or requested by Naruto's tenketsu points and coils.

In fact the perfect example would have to be Naruto's off the chart healing. Due to all the physical trauma his "cursed existence" had forced upon him, these two seals would internally create medical chakra at increasing rates.

He healed so quickly and his stamina were so intense because these two seals had internally created so much medical chakra that the residue from continuous use of it had actually coated his "pathways" with enough to heal anything short of flaying his skin or rupturing an organ in seconds!

His coils swirled so violently due to the potential chakra in his system that his control was absolutely shot. The raw amount had swollen his chakra pathways so much, that a small field of chakra always surrounded his skin, thin as paper. Unfortunately for the young jinchuuriki, this meant that unless he was completely focused on his one task, and not being noticed while doing it, everyone with even a drop of chakra around him was almost instantly alerted to his presence.

It was exhausting just to comprehend it all, and that was only the first two!

The next three were all very miniscule in practice but their effect was necessary to the entire sealing array The first seal of the three provided a "pocket" in Naruto's mind for Kurami to exist separately. No one wanted thousands of years of the Fox demons memories swirling around up there. However because of the nature of reiki being spiritual energy, or "experience", the second of the three seals allowed for the tangential thoughts that made up the memory bit of the reiki to be filtered out and pushed back to the Fox. The third of the seals compacted this "sanitized" reiki into non lethal portions to be injected through the suppressor seals and safely into Naruto's coils. Though now, due to the loss of the suppressor seals, all that refined reiki was being produced and shipped, en masse.

The next seal was very curious, it's only function seemed to be a very foolish one. It forced all of Naruto's reiki, purposely unfiltered, Through Kurami and then back into Naruto. She could only guess at the Yondaime's intentions, possibly a "punishment", to force her to live a "human" life. The boys was more of comedic relief than torture, ironic how the roles were switched.

The seventh seal was a tricky little piece, it acted as a "sedative" for her. Keeping her chakra tamed. Only having as much control over her reiki as the boy gave her. It wasn't unpleasant, actually the feeling sort of grew on her, she could only practice mix-matching her reiki into different natures before the refining process. Despite the seals initial purpose; each of the different natures when injected into his system had a small effect on the boy's hormones or growth, but then every seal has some kind of weakness, this one just so happened to be the boys ignorance of his situation. Or at least it used to.

The eighth and ninth seals might have been the most pretentious of all the seals. They allowed for the "seal holder to draw on the aspects of the sealed in order to greater absorb energies for a limited time." Or at least that's what she could decipher, human fuuinjutsu users were so wordy that it hurt her brain just to read their drivel. this sounded like a controlled idea for the bijuu cloak.

She'd seen it once before, her brother the eight-tails, who for some reason chose to trust his jinchuriki's, would give his chakra willingly. It produced a thick chakra mist around the subject and depending on the bijuu and number of tails used the chakra mist would change in potency and shape.

The tenth seal was rather simple, almost anticlimactic. All it did was keep the seal in place. Not as in lasting on his skin, but literally in space-time. Pretty cool at first but after some 10 years, it just turned into a gimmick. Even if you were to flay the skin off naruto's body the seal would still exist in the same spot. As though it were written on his soul. Ethereal and permanent. How droll.(like the crack in the amy pond arc)

 _ **Wait, what was I doing…? Oh yeah, the kit was rambling on about…**_ The last twenty minutes flooding back in her weakened state. _**No.**_ So softly it was alien to her own mind.

Naruto was getting worried about Kurami. First she seemed dumb-struck, then contemplative, now just slack-jawed schoolgirl fear. "Kurami?" Neutral concern playing along his features.

" _ **Why? Why did they have to die? My beautiful kits, my mate. Why did you leave me?"**_ Kurami began to fall into hysterics. " _ **AOZORA(blue sky)! Tsuma(claw)! Muraho(purple flame)."**_ The last of her strength fades as she falls to the ground.

Whiskers went to her side. Shaking, his hands lay on her back.

" **What…? What are you doing…?"** Kurami's voice was becoming faint with every passing second.

"You're cold!" Naruto was confused, _We're in my mind how can she be cold?_ "Hold on." he focused on blankets, the fire in the hearth at home. Opening his eyes, he was wrapping thick blankets around her.

Kurami saw a different scene through her tears, a light flowing from her tails to Naruto's heart. Only, the blankets were made of a similar light.

" **Answer me! What are you doing? What do you care if I'm cold?"** Not turning down the blankets, even if she had the strength to.

"I'm not a cruel monster like Orochimaru. You and I? It's the same story." He looks into Kurami's eyes. "Hatred, pain…." He looks away "loneliness."

His statement brought about a strong sense of reality. Kurami's past experiences with humans had driven her to develop a strong hatred for them. She had come to believe that all of them were heartless, yet this young boy was compassionate, more so than she ever would have expected from a mortal. Naruto was kind to her, despite her fits of depression and rage. " **Thank you…"** She whispered.

Naruto seemed to fall away, and an imprint she hadn't seen in years took his place _**Indra? They're both so alike i…...**_

"Don't thank me, just promise me one thing." Naruto steels his gaze. "Don't let their deaths control you. That's no life."

Kurami went silent, the forest around them carried a warm breeze. As the wind brushed past the leaves their unique properties became clear, ringing as light musical bells.

"I trust you….what was your plan?" Naruto spoke up once more.

" _ **Oh...right….you want to be recognized. Correct? Well i want to be free of this realm...i want a body again. And you can help me. So i'm willing to help you."**_

"Ok, so how do we do it?"

Kurami slowly shook of naruto's emotional effect on her, calming herself and reverting back to her self righteous attitude " _ **You give me freerange of your chakra...and i do the rest."**_

"...that's it?" Naruto huffed in disappointment at the anti-climactic reveal.

 _ **The fool doesnt even realise what i'm asking for "Yes, it's that simple."**_ She grinned to herself as she saw him shrug in indifference.

"I never wanted to become a ninja anyway" I'd like to live , thank you very much "Put her there" He stated matter of factly, offering his hand to Kurami as the forest breeze tousled their hair.

She took it, and her lips twisted into a savage grin " _**Thank's for a hellish 9 years gaki...enjoy however few you have left!"**_

The forest flickered, and the collar around her neck ripped and tore as her flesh strained against it, her body changing. Warping into obscene perversions of nature as it felt power flow from the boys very essence into her.

With that, Naruto's chakra came unbound, and tore through his body, leaving only cold, dark sleep to welcome him.


End file.
